IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v152y2022icp300-314.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dynamic pricing and reference price effects

Author

Listed:
  • Prakash, David
  • Spann, Martin

Abstract

Dynamic pricing enables online retailers to dynamically adjust prices in response to demand and supply conditions. However, dynamically changing prices may also affect how consumers assess current retail prices compared to their internal reference prices. This paper develops propositions for the influence of dynamic pricing on the internal reference price effect based on a reduced demand model, and tests these propositions with a field experiment and an online lab experiment. Both experiments systematically manipulate two dimensions of dynamic price variation (amplitude and frequency). We find that customers react strongly to price increases but not to price reductions. However, higher amplitude, as well as the higher frequency of price changes, attenuate the internal reference price effects in the field experiment. The online lab experiment provides additional insights in a more controlled setting measuring the internal reference price and additional covariates. Therefore, dynamic pricing can provide an additional benefit for retailers by attenuating potentially detrimental reference price effects on demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Prakash, David & Spann, Martin, 2022. "Dynamic pricing and reference price effects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 300-314.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:152:y:2022:i:c:p:300-314
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.07.037
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296322006488
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.07.037?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bing Jing, 2011. "Social Learning and Dynamic Pricing of Durable Goods," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(5), pages 851-865, September.
    2. Marc Vanhuele & X. Drèze, 2002. "Measuring the Price Knowledge Shoppers Bring to the Store," Post-Print hal-00457563, HAL.
    3. Guofang Huang & Hong Luo & Jing Xia, 2019. "Invest in Information or Wing It? A Model of Dynamic Pricing with Seller Learning," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(12), pages 5556-5583, December.
    4. Franziska Völckner & Julian Hofmann, 2007. "The price-perceived quality relationship: A meta-analytic review and assessment of its determinants," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 181-196, September.
    5. Bryan Kelly & Dimitris Papanikolaou & Amit Seru & Matt Taddy, 2021. "Measuring Technological Innovation over the Long Run," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 303-320, September.
    6. Mayhew, Glenn E & Winer, Russell S, 1992. "An Empirical Analysis of Internal and External Reference Prices Using Scanner Data," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(1), pages 62-70, June.
    7. Moorthy, Sridhar & Ratchford, Brian T & Talukdar, Debabrata, 1997. "Consumer Information Search Revisited: Theory and Empirical Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 23(4), pages 263-277, March.
    8. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Guillermo Gallego & Garrett van Ryzin, 1994. "Optimal Dynamic Pricing of Inventories with Stochastic Demand over Finite Horizons," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(8), pages 999-1020, August.
    10. Bertrand Crettez & Naila Hayek & Georges Zaccour, 2020. "Existence and characterization of optimal dynamic pricing strategies with reference-price effects," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 28(2), pages 441-459, June.
    11. Dennis J. Zhang & Hengchen Dai & Lingxiu Dong & Fangfang Qi & Nannan Zhang & Xiaofei Liu & Zhongyi Liu & Jiang Yang, 2020. "The Long-term and Spillover Effects of Price Promotions on Retailing Platforms: Evidence from a Large Randomized Experiment on Alibaba," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(6), pages 2589-2609, June.
    12. Martin Spann & Marc Fischer & Gerard J. Tellis, 2015. "Skimming or Penetration? Strategic Dynamic Pricing for New Products," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(2), pages 235-249, March.
    13. Vincenzina Caputo & Jayson L Lusk & Rodolfo M Nayga, 2020. "Am I Getting a Good Deal? Reference‐DependentDecision Making When the Reference Price Is Uncertain," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 132-153, January.
    14. Kelly L. Haws & William O. Bearden, 2006. "Dynamic Pricing and Consumer Fairness Perceptions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(3), pages 304-311, October.
    15. Benny Mantin & Eran Rubin, 2016. "Fare Prediction Websites and Transaction Prices: Empirical Evidence from the Airline Industry," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(4), pages 640-655, July.
    16. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram & Russell S. Winer, 1995. "Empirical Generalizations from Reference Price Research," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(3_supplem), pages 161-169.
    17. Darke, Peter R. & Brady, Michael K. & Benedicktus, Ray L. & Wilson, Andrew E., 2016. "Feeling Close From Afar: The Role of Psychological Distance in Offsetting Distrust in Unfamiliar Online Retailers," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 287-299.
    18. Bell, David R & Bucklin, Randolph E, 1999. "The Role of Internal Reference Points in the Category Purchase Decision," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 26(2), pages 128-143, September.
    19. Alford, Bruce L. & Engelland, Brian T., 2000. "Advertised Reference Price Effects on Consumer Price Estimates, Value Perception, and Search Intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 93-100, May.
    20. Beatty, Sharon E & Smith, Scott M, 1987. "External Search Effort: An Investigation across Several Product Categories," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(1), pages 83-95, June.
    21. Richard H. Thaler, 2008. "Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 15-25, 01-02.
    22. Bettman, James R & Luce, Mary Frances & Payne, John W, 1998. "Constructive Consumer Choice Processes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 25(3), pages 187-217, December.
    23. Praveen K. Kopalle & Ambar G. Rao & João L. Assunção, 1996. "Asymmetric Reference Price Effects and Dynamic Pricing Policies," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(1), pages 60-85.
    24. Hillen, Judith & Fedoseeva, Svetlana, 2021. "E-commerce and the end of price rigidity?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 63-73.
    25. Marshall Fisher & Santiago Gallino & Jun Li, 2018. "Competition-Based Dynamic Pricing in Online Retailing: A Methodology Validated with Field Experiments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(6), pages 2496-2514, June.
    26. Alderighi, Marco & Nava, Consuelo R. & Calabrese, Matteo & Christille, Jean-Marc & Salvemini, Chiara B., 2022. "Consumer perception of price fairness and dynamic pricing: Evidence from Booking.com," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 769-783.
    27. Wamsler, Julia & Natter, Martin & Algesheimer, René, 2022. "Transitioning to dynamic prices: Should pricing authority remain with the company or be delegated to the service employees instead?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1476-1488.
    28. John H. Roberts & Glen L. Urban, 1988. "Modeling Multiattribute Utility, Risk, and Belief Dynamics for New Consumer Durable Brand Choice," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(2), pages 167-185, February.
    29. Jean-Noël Kapferer & Gilles Laurent, 1985. "Measuring consumer involvement profiles," Post-Print hal-00786781, HAL.
    30. Winer, Russell S, 1986. "A Reference Price Model of Brand Choice for Frequently Purchased Products," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 13(2), pages 250-256, September.
    31. Eric A. Greenleaf, 1995. "The Impact of Reference Price Effects on the Profitability of Price Promotions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(1), pages 82-104.
    32. Guizzardi, Andrea & Mariani, Marcello M. & Stacchini, Annalisa, 2022. "A temporal construal theory explanation of the price-quality relationship in online dynamic pricing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 32-44.
    33. Drechsler, Wenzel & Natter, Martin, 2011. "Do Price Charts Provided by Online Shopbots Influence Price Expectations and Purchase Timing Decisions?," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 95-109.
    34. Krishnamurthi, Lakshman & Mazumdar, Tridib & Raj, S P, 1992. "Asymmetric Response to Price in Consumer Brand Choice and Purchase Quantity Decisions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(3), pages 387-400, December.
    35. Kalyanaram, Gurumurthy & Little, John D C, 1994. "An Empirical Analysis of Latitude of Price Acceptance in Consumer Package Goods," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(3), pages 408-418, December.
    36. Yuri Levin & Jeff McGill & Mikhail Nediak, 2009. "Dynamic Pricing in the Presence of Strategic Consumers and Oligopolistic Competition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(1), pages 32-46, January.
    37. Daniel S. Putler, 1992. "Incorporating Reference Price Effects into a Theory of Consumer Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 287-309.
    38. Michael Neubert, 2022. "A Systematic Literature Review of Dynamic Pricing Strategies," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(4), pages 1-1, April.
    39. Julian Hofmann & Michel Clement & Franziska Völckner & Thorsten Hennig-Thurau, 2007. "The price-perceived quality relationship: A meta-analytic review and assessment of its determinants," Post-Print hal-02990424, HAL.
    40. Wedad Elmaghraby & P{i}nar Keskinocak, 2003. "Dynamic Pricing in the Presence of Inventory Considerations: Research Overview, Current Practices, and Future Directions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(10), pages 1287-1309, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martín-Herrán, Guiomar & Sigué, Simon Pierre, 2023. "An integrative framework of cooperative advertising with reference price effects," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    2. Guang Yang & Ying Wang & Mulin Liu, 2023. "Optimal Policy for Probabilistic Selling with Three-Way Revenue Sharing Contract under the Perspective of Sustainable Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    3. Liu, Xiaotian & Popkowski Leszczyc, Peter T.L., 2023. "The reference price effect of historical price lists in online auctions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. van Oest, Rutger, 2013. "Why are Consumers Less Loss Averse in Internal than External Reference Prices?," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 62-71.
    2. Ioana Popescu & Yaozhong Wu, 2007. "Dynamic Pricing Strategies with Reference Effects," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 55(3), pages 413-429, June.
    3. Ahrens, Steffen & Pirschel, Inske & Snower, Dennis J., 2017. "A theory of price adjustment under loss aversion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 78-95.
    4. Kopalle, Praveen K. & Kannan, P.K. & Boldt, Lin Bao & Arora, Neeraj, 2012. "The impact of household level heterogeneity in reference price effects on optimal retailer pricing policies," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 102-114.
    5. Dmitri Kuksov & Kangkang Wang, 2014. "The Bright Side of Loss Aversion in Dynamic and Competitive Markets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(5), pages 693-711, September.
    6. Lillian L. Cheng & Kent B. Monroe, 2013. "An appraisal of behavioral price research (part 1): price as a physical stimulus," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 3(3), pages 103-129, September.
    7. David R. Bell & James M. Lattin, 2000. "Looking for Loss Aversion in Scanner Panel Data: The Confounding Effect of Price Response Heterogeneity," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 185-200, May.
    8. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2014-065 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Biondi, Beatrice & Cornelsen, Laura & Mazzocchi, Mario & Smith, Richard, 2020. "Between preferences and references: Asymmetric price elasticities and the simulation of fiscal policies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 108-128.
    10. Robert Slonim & Ellen Garbarino, 2009. "Similarities and differences between stockpiling and reference effects," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 351-371.
    11. Sojin Jung & Hyeon Jeong Cho & Byoungho Ellie Jin, 2020. "Does effective cost transparency increase price fairness? An analysis of apparel brand strategies," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(5), pages 495-507, September.
    12. Chandrashekaran, R., 2001. "The implications of individual differences in reference price utilization for designing effective price communications," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 85-91, August.
    13. Peter Seele & Claus Dierksmeier & Reto Hofstetter & Mario D. Schultz, 2021. "Mapping the Ethicality of Algorithmic Pricing: A Review of Dynamic and Personalized Pricing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 697-719, May.
    14. Lindsay Meredith & Dennis Maki, 2001. "Product cannibalization and the role of prices," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(14), pages 1785-1793.
    15. Colombo, Luca & Labrecciosa, Paola, 2021. "Dynamic oligopoly pricing with reference-price effects," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 288(3), pages 1006-1016.
    16. Zhang, Jie & Kevin Chiang, Wei–yu & Liang, Liang, 2014. "Strategic pricing with reference effects in a competitive supply chain," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 126-135.
    17. Neumann, Nico & Böckenholt, Ulf, 2014. "A Meta-analysis of Loss Aversion in Product Choice," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 182-197.
    18. Sojin Jung & Hyeon Jeong Cho & Byoungho Ellie Jin, 0. "Does effective cost transparency increase price fairness? An analysis of apparel brand strategies," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-13.
    19. Zhang, Jie & Chiang, Wei-yu Kevin, 2020. "Durable goods pricing with reference price effects," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    20. Yuval Arbel & Danny Ben-Shahar & Stuart Gabriel, 2016. "Are The Disabled Less Loss Averse? Evidence From A Natural Policy Experiment," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 1291-1318, April.
    21. Chandrashekaran, Rajesh & Grewal, Dhruv, 2006. "Anchoring effects of advertised reference price and sale price: The moderating role of saving presentation format," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(10-11), pages 1063-1071, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:152:y:2022:i:c:p:300-314. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.